Raise your hand if you know where you fit within your company’s customer lifecycle.
Can you visualize your business and customer lifecycle models?
Do you have a visual representation of your customer lifecycle? If so, can your employees draw a picture of the customer lifecycle and pinpoint the details of their role within each phase of customer relationships? If not, why not?
Creating the customer lifecycle model for your business is an important exercise. When rolled out companywide, it establishes awareness and understanding regarding departmental roles and responsibilities to support the longevity of business relationships.
The lifecycle model provides a crisp visualization of segment complexities and underscores the importance of knowledge transfer across evolving phases of business relationships. It establishes awareness of internal and external customer expectations and required timelines.
The customer lifecycle resides within the company’s business lifecycle
When you and your staff acknowledge that the customer lifecycle resides within the business lifecycle, it becomes apparent that the sales organization must understand the business plan to pursue the development of a customer portfolio that supports the current and future state of the business. The sales organization must be able to clearly define and articulate customers’ business objectives and expectations as the sales process transitions to the ‘Moment of Truth’ – the time when the relationship becomes validated.
Newly formed relationships require handholding and nurturing to ensure that customer expectations are met in the short and long term. A well-crafted customer lifecycle model provides immediate accountabilities for all stakeholders. Each lifecycle segment defines the processes, metrics, and expectations that support evolving phases of customer relationships from the beginning through contract re-negotiations and renewal. Sharing the model when onboarding new customers can be beneficial in establishing expectations for each phase of the business relationship. Remember, once the relationship is established, it must be managed effectively. Each lifecycle phase is vital to support customer longevity and organic revenue growth.
Your customer lifecycle is a valuable tool to be shared during company town hall meetings to remind employees of their role’s significance in each phase of your customer’s lifecycle. The visualization demonstrates the company’s success is about them!
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